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| The Dead don't die Review |
Jim Jarmusch surrounds himself with a luxury cast and plunges us into the zombie apocalypse ... Although he does not take advantage of the occasion.
The Dead don't die (or The Dead Do not Die) seemed out of nowhere, but destined to conquer the audience for three reasons. First, its director, Jim Jarmusch, who dares with what is perhaps his most commercial and risky project. Second for its spectacular cast full of stars and cameos of celebrities of all kinds and draft. Third, for being a comedy of zombies, how fashionable they are. With these ingredients, it seemed easy that the result surprised us until it became a new little classic of the genre. But, unfortunately, it has not finally been that way.
THE DEAD DON'T DIE - Official Trailer
The story of The Dead don't die is almost like a Buddy Movie, following in the footsteps of two cops in a Pennsylvania town (where else, since even Romero's zombie movies are set in Pennsylvania), Ronnie (Adam Driver ) and Cliff (Bill Murray). For them everything starts as a normal day, however, the tragedy weighs on them and soon begins to be omens that something terrible is going to happen. As you can imagine that 'something' is that the dead rise from their graves and begin to charge every human being they encounter. These are classic zombies, yes, those who move slowly and have little reason ... With the exception of remembering their greatest human obsessions. There are those addicted to coffee, those who do not separate from the mobile, etc ... Here the criticism of the current society that was originally Romero's concept of zombies is more present and in a clearer way than ever.
However, the first thing to keep in mind is that Los Muertos No Mueren does not take itself too seriously, which is liberation, especially since the zombie genre has already passed its best moments and seems to be something of the last layer. The film is full of meta-references to the genre, or breaks in the fourth wall and jokes that seek to transcend the usual cinematographic language, and in reality, this is the most interesting part of the film, although it does not work well at almost no time. set.
Perhaps it is the fault of the slow rhythm, close to the first films of Jarmusch in which hardly anything happened, letting the star cast have all the weight of the narrative, while everything passes between a certain everyday air. So much so that even several moments and characters of the tape end up being unnecessary, to the point that nothing would have changed if they were simply not present in The Dead Don't Die (we look at you, Tilda Swinton and Selena Gomez). We understand that the director's intention is to create a lively and rich atmosphere, in which this rich tapestry of characters that converge at the edge of the zombie apocalypse move ... But the nature of the film itself prevents us from empathizing with most of it, making us do what happens to them almost at all times, except in the case of the protagonists (which, incidentally, are seconded by Chloe Sevigny).
For this, the stellar cast of actors and actresses of the tape goes a little more unnoticed, in the end, many of the characters and appearances do not matter. It is a pity that such important names as Steve Buscemi, Danny Glover, RZA, Iggy Pop, Tom Waits or the previously named - among many others - have residual papers, although there are always exceptions. Perhaps we could take Tom Waits out of the list, who plays Bob the Hermit, chronicler, and voice-over of the events that are taking place, making the criticism of the tape with his words more obvious ... Until in a certain way the message that Jarmusch wants to offer here. Where there are few faults is in the work of the main actors, with Bill Murray doing, once again Bill Murray (that character drives him) and Adam Driver also doing a great job.
There is no main objective or motivation, nor a conflict that advances the plot, beyond the zombies ... But this issue is treated with such normality by the police protagonists that leave a certain sense of emptiness that does not help tape. It may be the filmmaker's most mainstream film, but it is not, by far, his best work. Los Muertos no Mueren misses characters and situations, exaggerates certain tropes and ends up spinning around jokes too many times. We will not say that it is boring, because, in the end, it is bearable, but we are not facing a great movie either.